


Recoil

by Bluepaw265



Series: Remember? [9]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: AU Season 8, Anger, Angst, Cool down, Gen, Implied Deaths, Kai is filled with...DETERMINATION, Mentioned deaths, Pre-Betrayal, Rage, Suicide, The balance scale is a-, time loops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 09:01:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14101953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluepaw265/pseuds/Bluepaw265
Summary: They've won...on loop 5? What? New personal best! WOO!...Until it's not./ /The AU where light and dark must be balanced, and Kai gets the call to fix it...not that he likes it.





	Recoil

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go...brief mentions of people from Season 8, and literally all of it is my own imagination.   
> Don't think you're getting a full story here, though. You're just getting the ends and what needs to happen (which you'll all kick and scream at).   
> Also...Angst is coming (Game of Thrones theme plays).

**_ Recoil _ **

When Kai realised what he had to do, he recoiled.

They’d been fighting the Sons of Garmadon for the last 5 loops, and it’d been hell. On his first loop, he had gotten to the end, but Garmadon had risen and the world had, once again, been enveloped in darkness.

Lloyd had died, and Kai followed soon after.

Loop 2 went by quickly; being impaled tends to kill people quite fast; trust him – he _knows_.

Loop 3 had him spinning around, trying to figure out which of the three enemy leaders were remembering.

The thing was...none of them seemed to be doing anything drastically different. In fact, by then, they’d only been responding to what he’d changed.

It made him start to wonder: was there some sort of higher power ordering them around (maybe someone like the Overlord)? Was Lloyds’ father meant to wake up evil? Or...was he missing something?

On loop four, they almost saved Garmadon, only to be thrown backwards by the Oni Mask of Deceptions’ telekinesis, and he had, to his misfortune, slammed right into the hulking figure of Killow himself.

Being held at club-point wasn’t fun. Neither was being crushed (slightly; he still rubbed his arms every now and then). In the end, though, the Ninja were forced to lay down their arms (damn his loyal friends) and Kai, being a smart bastard, decided to retry and shoved his neck into the spike.

Note to self: suicide is hard to wrap up quickly.

Then...Loop 5. The game-changer.

They’d won. They’d saved Lord Garmadon (on Loop 5. _How_?). They’d saved Ninjago. And, on top of that, he’d almost gotten a new personal best.

Or so they thought.

Master Wu (damnit. He couldn’t stop thinking about him. Not when he was still nowhere to be found.) told them that there had to be a certain balance. The scales couldn’t tip in one direction or there wouldn’t _be_ a world to save.

The shift in balance (where either good or evil are tilting uncontrollably) is different for either side. With darkness, the world deteriorates quickly. It becomes dark and foggy and the population plummets and, really, that was exactly what the Overlord wanted; to destroy the scales. But, while darkness can persevere, light cannot. With light, the world explodes. Just with a click of the fingers.

When he’d seen the light, he’d thought it’d been the sun as they cheered.

But then it got hotter and _hotter_ and _hotter_.

And, with a brilliant flash of light, Kai had been brought back into his past body, on the floor of a tranquil forest, shaking. He didn’t have to look at the number on his shoulder to know that it’d been replaced by a six.

That was where he was now. He’d been reflecting, wondering where the hell it’d all gone so _wrong_.

His mind goes back to the only thing that made any sense.

_The balance. If Garmadon is freed before he creates chaos, Ninjago will be no more._

And he can’t let that happen.

Kai recoiled then, because damnit, Lloyd wasn’t going to let it happen. He wouldn’t let Ninjago fall under any sort of darkness because he was still so _pure_. Kind. _Innocent_.

He shook his head. New second best? Nope. He’d been naïve, to think it’d be that easy. No, it was so much harder than that.

His fellow Ninja knew he embraced Time Loops, now. He’d known things were going to be different. He’d felt it. 

He just didn’t know it’d be in this way. This horrible, twisted, gut-wrenching way.

“Kai?” The voice that cracked through his beeping communicator wasn’t Pixal, and it’d been enough to startle him out of his thoughts, because that’d been Lloyd and why did he sound so _bewildered_? “I...I don’t...”

“Lloyd.” He stated, starting to feel nausea build up in his stomach, swallowing some puke that managed to get past his steel defences. “What’s up? What’s wrong?”

It took the Green Ninja a while to respond. “I don’t understand...” Kai waited, and he almost did throw up when he’d quietly said his next words. “Why do I have a number burnt into my skin?”

He’d been expecting the possibility. None of the commanders had a number; they’d have done something different by now. No, Time itself had been trying to show him something – and have him decide what he should do about it – before drawing a number on his next number one enemy.

And that just happened to be his best friend.

_Damnit._

“Kai? You still there?” Lloyds’ voice brought him back out of his wallowing, and he realised right there that he could walk down two separate paths.

He could tell him what has to happen and find Mr. E and the other Sons of Garmadon members. He could tell him nothing and stick with the other Ninja, only to deceive them when the time was right.

There were other, minor things he could to with the two different rolls. He could, as a Ninja, make ‘accidental’ errors that make it easier for Mr. E and the others. He could go find Lloyd and tell him everything, then see what he’d do. There were so many different things he could do (so many things he could try), but, right now, only one would work appropriately, no matter how much it hurt.

“Yeah, I’m here.” He almost choked, his free fist clenched and, not that he noticed, on _fire_. “I’ll be there as quickly as possible.”

He clicked the communication off and, after taking a deep breath, slammed his now _not_ flaming fist into the nearest tree, leaves falling and birds cawing in distress.

“God _damnit_...” He muttered, eyes closed tightly, biting his lip. “Lloyd won’t trust me after this...”

Option two sounded more logical than the first. He wanted to be honest. He wanted to tell them what he knew and what he was going to do and why, but he couldn’t. No, no. That’s not right; he _wouldn’t_.

He held back tears – _hot_ tears.

_This hurts. This isn’t fair._ He thought, and he inwardly growled, tears evaporating before they leaked.

Life isn’t fair. Won’t ever _be_ fair. He should know that by now, but every now and again he’ll find the self-preserving phrase pop up.

He punched the tree again. Then once more for good measure.

_Damnit. Damnit to hell!_

Then he slumped against the now smoking tree, holding his head in his hands.

_I’ve done so much for Ninjago, but now..._

_Now I have to fight against it. And that means fighting my friends. And fighting for the_ enemy _._

He recoiled then, feeling unwelcome tears well up in his eyes once again. They don’t last long, however, because he slammed a flaming fist into the ground, the tears dissolving quickly.

Then the anger dissipated, and he sighed, closing his eyes tightly.

_I have to do this. They won’t understand my reasons. They won’t understand why I’m suddenly working with the enemy._

_But it has to be done. I have to betray them. I have to work against them._

_It’s for the greater good._

Kai stood, taking a deep breath.

_Time to tell Lloyd a_ slightly _abbreviated version as to why he’s been marked._  

**Author's Note:**

> Ah...sweet. Another one done. And, now...well, one more before the connected one-shots are finished.   
> I'd like your opinion on this:  
> I've been thinking about doing Kai's journey from the very start. What happened to him and the like after these one-shots. If you'd like to see that, please, tell me in the comments.   
> Also, Kai has been filled with...DETERMINATION. To make things right, of course. (If any of you get that reference, I thank you. I just need to get it off my chest...)


End file.
